Victron SmartSolar - Should I change the battery preset?

Pugwash69

Forum Member
I've just installed the MPPT 100/20 this morning and noticed that the app has a battery preset in the settings. The factory default is "Gel Victron deep discharge(2)"

Should I change this? None of the other presets sound right so should I hunt down the correct settings for my battery and manually enter them?

BTW I have three Hankook DC31MF which are 100Ah each.
 

wildebus

Forum Member
I've just installed the MPPT 100/20 this morning and noticed that the app has a battery preset in the settings. The factory default is "Gel Victron deep discharge(2)"

Should I change this? None of the other presets sound right so should I hunt down the correct settings for my battery and manually enter them?

BTW I have three Hankook DC31MF which are 100Ah each.
Best results if you use the info recommended by the makers :)
 

Pugwash69

Forum Member
Hankook are damn difficult to find technical specs for! Can I assume it's not going to fry my battery for now?
 

wildebus

Forum Member
Hankook are damn difficult to find technical specs for! Can I assume it's not going to fry my battery for now?
Probably be ok.
General rule is around 14.4V for Absorption charge (unlikely to be higher for SLA or AGM battery, could be a bit lower);
Charge rate no more than 20% of capacity, but could be lower (not important/relevant to worry about for 300Ah of battery connected to a 20A Solar Charger, especially in the Winter!)
There is a maximum absorption time in the settings - i.e. How long you want the battery to sit at the high voltage for. default is 6Hrs. Most batteries are ok with that but that is one bit of data it is hard to get for most batteries, but could be lower (I think from memory my Battery maximum absorption time is 5 Hours?). This is a setting that is rare to be able to change.
Temp compensation - that could run up the voltage noticably in the winter when the batteries are nice and cold. I'd keep an eye on that setting if you cannot find info and maybe disable until you do? You could end up with >15V charge voltage and maybe your batteries won't like that?
 

RAW

Forum Member
What ever you do make sure that equalisation is disabled.
If you bought battery from a vendor rather than Hankook direct then maybe ask them ?
 

Pugwash69

Forum Member
Yeah disabled by default. I didn't know what it was but it looked bad :) Here's a screen shot of the settings it defaulted to.
Screenshot_20191028-123800.jpg
 
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RAW

Forum Member
What's your battery? I am pretty good at finding stuff online so if you give me the exact make model and anything else I might be able to find out some more info....
 

wildebus

Forum Member
Oh dear, Dear.

That is not very promising. But look on the bright side .... at least if you need to make a claim under warranty, they can't tell you that you didn't set them up wrong as no one knows the right way ;)
 

Pugwash69

Forum Member
The last time I spoke to Battery Megastore was just after I bought these. I queried their warranty policy as they said it was void if I discharged them below a certain voltage, which was at odds with the sticker on the battery and the fact they are supposed to be "deep cycle".
I suspect they don't know any more about them either. I checked their product page too.
 

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